Robben Island

On Sunday, I took a 30-minute ferry ride on the Atlantic Ocean from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town out to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned from 1964-1982 (he was then sent to two other prisons and finally released on February 11, 1990). Political prisoners in South Africa, those accused of opposing a government with laws that were unjust and inhumane, were sent here. Oliver Tambo called Robben Island the "most inhospitable outpost of apartheid."

My tour guide was Itumeleng Makwela, a former political prisoner who was captured on the border of South Africa and Botswana, and sentenced to 7 years for sabotage. He served all of his sentence and was released just as the general release began in 1990. He told us about his work in the kitchen, cooking, serving, and cleaning.

He also showed us the couryard of the section where Nelson Mandela stayed, as well as his cell.

We took a bus ride around the island and viewed the lime quarry where political prisoners were required to do manual labor in the hot sun.

Although the island has a pretty view of the ocean and of Table Mountain - in this photo the "tablecloth" is on - it must have been a bittersweet view to the prisoners. It's definitely not a prison now. In fact it's a conference center. Imagine.

Apartheid Museum

Friday morning's visit to the Apartheid Museum in southern Johannesburg was a heartrending, thought-provoking, moving look at South Africa's era of segregation and oppression. How ugly and dreadfully sad to see how this gorgeous country was once spoiled and degraded by man's inhumanity to man. I'm grateful to have visited here no matter my sorrow as I viewed the exhibits.

The beauty of this awful story is that hope emerges out of the abyss. "Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another. Let freedom reign. God bless Africa." These are the famous words of Nelson Mandela in 1994 during his inauguration as president of the new South Africa.

And then this truly remarkable man set about creating a "collective imagination" that bought into in reconciliation, generosity and forgiveness. He believed and helped others understand that every citizen had been victimized by the policy of apartheid, and he led this divided country towards a true working democracy.

I am humbled and feel so privileged to be here to see "the world's first negotiated revolution" and its fledgling democracy at work!

Multiple Languages and Literacy

On Thursday morning we visited with the Faculty of Education at Unviersity of Johannesburg to learn about education initiatives in South Africa. In this new democracy, children born after 1994 (after apartheid) are considered the "born free" generation. I find it amazing how much has been accomplished and what's going on.

South Africa recognizes eleven languages as official. How cool is that?! Nine are indigenous such as Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Swati, Sotho, Tsonga, etc. And also English and Afrikaans. So especially important here - as it should be all over the world - is multilingual education. I love this concept! Later in the day we met with the Molteno Institute, an organization that has developed curriculum and pedagogy for helping children become strong in their first language as a bridge to learning and literacy.



This day ended with an interesting visit to a Cultural Village where we learned more about the tribes and languages of the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho, etc., and were privileged to watch dances illustrating multiple cultures.

I am re-energized by experiencing the wonders of our world of multiplicity!